Couple lost custody of 2 children over prank videos, now they're back on YouTube under a new name

Michael Martins, also known as DaddyOFive, premieres his new YouTube channel, FamilyOFive, after he lost custody of two of his children because of his filmed pranks. (Photo: FamilyOFive via YouTube)

Last year, Mike Martin, who amassed a dedicated following on YouTube under the handle DaddyOFive, received backlash after viewers started to comment that his “prank videos,” which featured five of his biological children along with his wife, Heather, looked more like child abuse.

The couple filmed and uploaded numerous videos for their nearly 800,000 subscribers that featured the pair screaming and cursing at their children until they were reduced to tears but claiming that the videos were fake.

In one horrifying video, the couple berated one of the children, Cody, for spilling ink on the carpet, which left the child extremely emotional. When they revealed that the ink was invisible ink and he was not in trouble, Cody did not react.

The result of the viral videos came in the form of a judge granting custody of two of the children, Cody, who at the time was 9, and his sister Emma, who was 11, to their birth mother. The Martins were also given five years of probation after pleading guilty to child neglect.

Now Martins and his wife are back, but instead of going by the moniker DaddyOFive, since he lost custody of the two children, his new channel is called FamilyOFive.

Amanda the Jedi, a fellow YouTuber, has created a video that suggests that the Martins are still exploiting the three other children and encouraging them to continue to fight and scream.

While it looks like the new prank videos are mostly focused on making the adults the butt of the joke, the opening shot of a trailer for FamilyOFive features one of the children being hit in the groin by a ball.

And, according to the Daily Dot, a video from May features Martin barking at his son for not holding the camera steady while he yells at the kids.

Regardless of the backlash they received just a year ago, it looks like the Martins are here to stay on the YouTube platform — and with already more than 200,000 followers, it appears their fans are back as well.